How Israel's bombing turned Hizbollah leader into a symbol of Muslim pride By Patrick Cockburn
Published: 02 August 2006
Source: The Independent

A year ago he seemed a rebel without a cause. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, was an important figure in Lebanon but seemed destined to remain on the sidelines of Middle East politics. He was the most important leader of the 1.4 million-strong Shia community in Lebanon and nobody doubted the efficiency of Hizbollah as a paramilitary organisation. He was intelligent, charismatic and experienced but he seemed to have reached the peak of his influence.

Nasrallah's great moment had apparently come and gone in May 2000 when Israel had unilaterally withdrawn its troops from southern Lebanon after years of harassment by Hizbollah guerrillas. He returned in triumph to reconquered Lebanese territory and, if the military victory over Israel was small in scale, it was still an accomplishment not enjoyed by many Arab leaders over the past half century. But the departure of the Israelis from Lebanon also robbed Hizbollah of its raison d'être and excuse for forming a state within a state. No doubt its leader, Nasrallah, would remain a power within Lebanon but it seemed increasingly unlikely that he would be anything more.

It was Israel that decided otherwise. By launching a massive military campaign in retaliation for the kidnapping of two of its soldiers on 12 July it made Nasrallah into a symbol of resistance to Israel in the Muslim world. Arabs conscious of their own leaders' inertia, corruption and incompetence hailed the resolution of Hizbollah's fighters. Nasrallah's blend of nationalism and religion was shown to be as potent in Lebanon as it had been against the Americans in Iraq.

His spokesmen admitted that Hizbollah had miscalculated the ferocity of the Israeli response to the kidnapping, but then few in the world forecast that Israel would play so directly to Hizbollah's strengths as a guerrilla organisation capable of surviving an Israeli military attack. Nor had it seemed likely that Israel, after extricating with such difficulty from the Lebanese morass after 18 years, would plunge back into it with such enthusiasm.

Nasrallah's entire career has been shaped by Israel's repeated interventions in Lebanon from the civil war in the mid-1970s up to the present time. If an Israeli helicopter had not assassinated Nasrallah's mentor and predecessor, Abbas Mussawi, as head of Hizbollah in 1992, he would not have led the organisation over the past 14 years. The Israeli air force has made every effort to kill him by bombing his home and office - but all he has to do now is survive to become a hero across the Arab world.

Nasrallah was born on 31 August 1960 in east Beirut's Bourj Hamoud district. His father was a vegetable seller originally from south Lebanon. He was the eldest of nine children and aspired to be a cleric from an early age but it was war which shaped his upbringing. The outbreak of the civil war sent his family back to their ancestral village of Bassouriyeh, not far from Tyre. It was from here that the local clergy sent him to the great Shia theological centre in Najaf in Iraq where he studied for two years and met Moussawi, of whom he was an early follower.

Saddam Hussein was suspicious of Shia religious enthusiasts and in 1978 he expelled foreign religious students from Najaf. The next important event in Nasrallah's career was the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which he vigorously opposed, becoming a guerrilla commander. He was also known to oppose an increase in Syrian influence in Lebanon and to have advocated fighting the Israelis in the south of the country. He was only 31 years old when the killing of Moussawi by the Israelis made him leader of Hizbollah.

Nasrallah has well-honed political skills. He was able to extend Hizbollah's influence within the Shia community and played down its differences with other communities and leaders in Lebanon. His son Hadi was killed at the age of 18 fighting the Israelis in southern Lebanon in 1997.

Hizbollah, financed by Iran in the 1990s, was increasingly able to raise its own funds after 2000. It also had an extensive network of schools and medical centres. As with Hamas in Gaza, the ineffectiveness of Middle East governments in providing for their poor makes even moderate social achievements of a movement such as Hizbollah stand out.

There are limits to what any communal party can achieve in Lebanon because of the difficulty of winning support outside one's own religious community.

But Nasrallah and Hizbollah enjoyed high prestige after 2000.

The party won more seats in the 2005 election following the departure of Syrian troops 29 years after they first arrived.

But not everything was going Hizbollah's way. It might have two cabinet posts but the US was backing the new Lebanese government as a foil to Syria and Iran, Hizbollah's old supporters.

There is no doubt that Nasrallah thought this summer was an opportune moment to heat up the border with Israel. But he can hardly have expected Israel and the US to forget their own grim experiences in Lebanon after the invasion of 1982 and play so completely into his hands.

A year ago he seemed a rebel without a cause. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbollah, was an important figure in Lebanon but seemed destined to remain on the sidelines of Middle East politics. He was the most important leader of the 1.4 million-strong Shia community in Lebanon and nobody doubted the efficiency of Hizbollah as a paramilitary organisation. He was intelligent, charismatic and experienced but he seemed to have reached the peak of his influence.

Nasrallah's great moment had apparently come and gone in May 2000 when Israel had unilaterally withdrawn its troops from southern Lebanon after years of harassment by Hizbollah guerrillas. He returned in triumph to reconquered Lebanese territory and, if the military victory over Israel was small in scale, it was still an accomplishment not enjoyed by many Arab leaders over the past half century. But the departure of the Israelis from Lebanon also robbed Hizbollah of its raison d'être and excuse for forming a state within a state. No doubt its leader, Nasrallah, would remain a power within Lebanon but it seemed increasingly unlikely that he would be anything more.

It was Israel that decided otherwise. By launching a massive military campaign in retaliation for the kidnapping of two of its soldiers on 12 July it made Nasrallah into a symbol of resistance to Israel in the Muslim world. Arabs conscious of their own leaders' inertia, corruption and incompetence hailed the resolution of Hizbollah's fighters. Nasrallah's blend of nationalism and religion was shown to be as potent in Lebanon as it had been against the Americans in Iraq.

His spokesmen admitted that Hizbollah had miscalculated the ferocity of the Israeli response to the kidnapping, but then few in the world forecast that Israel would play so directly to Hizbollah's strengths as a guerrilla organisation capable of surviving an Israeli military attack. Nor had it seemed likely that Israel, after extricating with such difficulty from the Lebanese morass after 18 years, would plunge back into it with such enthusiasm.

Nasrallah's entire career has been shaped by Israel's repeated interventions in Lebanon from the civil war in the mid-1970s up to the present time. If an Israeli helicopter had not assassinated Nasrallah's mentor and predecessor, Abbas Mussawi, as head of Hizbollah in 1992, he would not have led the organisation over the past 14 years. The Israeli air force has made every effort to kill him by bombing his home and office - but all he has to do now is survive to become a hero across the Arab world.

Nasrallah was born on 31 August 1960 in east Beirut's Bourj Hamoud district. His father was a vegetable seller originally from south Lebanon. He was the eldest of nine children and aspired to be a cleric from an early age but it was war which shaped his upbringing. The outbreak of the civil war sent his family back to their ancestral village of Bassouriyeh, not far from Tyre. It was from here that the local clergy sent him to the great Shia theological centre in Najaf in Iraq where he studied for two years and met Moussawi, of whom he was an early follower.
Saddam Hussein was suspicious of Shia religious enthusiasts and in 1978 he expelled foreign religious students from Najaf. The next important event in Nasrallah's career was the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, which he vigorously opposed, becoming a guerrilla commander. He was also known to oppose an increase in Syrian influence in Lebanon and to have advocated fighting the Israelis in the south of the country. He was only 31 years old when the killing of Moussawi by the Israelis made him leader of Hizbollah.

Nasrallah has well-honed political skills. He was able to extend Hizbollah's influence within the Shia community and played down its differences with other communities and leaders in Lebanon. His son Hadi was killed at the age of 18 fighting the Israelis in southern Lebanon in 1997.

Hizbollah, financed by Iran in the 1990s, was increasingly able to raise its own funds after 2000. It also had an extensive network of schools and medical centres. As with Hamas in Gaza, the ineffectiveness of Middle East governments in providing for their poor makes even moderate social achievements of a movement such as Hizbollah stand out.

There are limits to what any communal party can achieve in Lebanon because of the difficulty of winning support outside one's own religious community.

But Nasrallah and Hizbollah enjoyed high prestige after 2000.

The party won more seats in the 2005 election following the departure of Syrian troops 29 years after they first arrived.

But not everything was going Hizbollah's way. It might have two cabinet posts but the US was backing the new Lebanese government as a foil to Syria and Iran, Hizbollah's old supporters.

There is no doubt that Nasrallah thought this summer was an opportune moment to heat up the border with Israel. But he can hardly have expected Israel and the US to forget their own grim experiences in Lebanon after the invasion of 1982 and play so completely into his hands.

Hizbullah today fired at least 150 rockets at Israel, striking further south than ever before as it escalated its attacks ahead of an expected major ground invasion by the Israelis.
A Khaibar-1 rocket - which Israel claims is Iranian-made - reached a record 43 miles south of the Israel-Lebanon border, and a stray rocket struck the West Bank for the first time.

Meanwhile, in a helicopter raid supported by Israeli jets, Israeli special forces made their deepest ground strike into Lebanon so far.

The Israeli army claimed it had killed 10 Hizbullah guerrillas and captured five in the eastern city of Baalbek, 80 miles north of the border. Nearby air strikes killed up to 19 civilians.
Thousands of reservists, called up over the weekend, were also gathering at staging areas on the Israeli side of the border to extend the range of the offensive.

Israeli warplanes today attacked a Lebanese army base in south Lebanon, killing three soldiers.

Hundreds of Lebanese have been killed by the Israeli offensive, with reports of the total ranging from around 450 to more than 800, including as many as 290 children.

Today's Hizbullah missile attacks killed an Israeli on a bicycle near the border town of Nahariya and wounded 17 other Israelis.

The latest Israeli death brought the Israeli toll in the conflict to 55, with 19 of those civilians.

The barrage of Hizbullah missiles came despite claims by Israeli leaders and generals that they had considerably weakened the group's military capabilities.

He also said the military action would stop only once a robust international peacekeeping force was in place.

Peacekeepers should have a mandate that would include enforcing a UN resolution calling for the disarmament of Hizbullah, Mr Olmert said.

Israel says it has killed hundreds of Hizbullah fighters and damaged its supplies of medium and long-range rockets.

However, more than 150 rockets had hit northern Israel by the afternoon, and Hizbullah has fired more than 100 rockets every day for the past three weeks.

Lebanese security officials claimed today's barrage of missiles amounted to more than 300 rockets, though this had not been independently confirmed.

Some landed near the Israeli town of Beit Shean, around 43 miles from the border. In the West Bank, the rockets landed near the town of Jenin, between the villages of Fakua and Jalboun, leaving a two-metre crater but causing no casualties.

Palestinians have staged daily marches in support of Hizbullah.

"We know that they did not intend to strike Palestinian territory. They intended to strike Israel," Fahmi Zarer, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said.

"It was only a technical problem that made this rocket land here in the Palestinian territories."

An Associated Press reporter in south-east Lebanon reported seeing around two dozen rockets launched from that area alone.

Israel refused to identify the guerrillas it had captured at Baalbek, but the target of the raid was thought to be Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek, a member of the Hizbullah high council and a representative of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Residents of the area claimed a hospital raided by Israel was financed by an Iranian charity, the Imam Khomeini Charitable Society, which is close to Hizbullah.

Hizbullah confirmed some people had been seized, but said they were civilians.

"It will not be long before the enemy will discover that they are ordinary citizens," the group said in a statement broadcast on its al-Manar television channel.

Its chief spokesman, Hussein Rahal, told the Associated Press that fierce fighting had raged at the hospital - which witnesses said was partly destroyed - for an hour.

"A group of Israeli commandos were brought to the hospital by a helicopter," Mr Rahal said. He added that Israeli jets were attacking the surrounding guerrilla force with missiles.

At least 12 people were killed in an air strike on the village of Jammaliyeh, near Baalbek. A missile hit the home of the village's mayor, Hussein Jamaleddin, killing his son Ali, brother Awad and five other relatives, witnesses said.

The witnesses said the mayor - who survived the raid - and his relatives were political opponents of Hizbullah, and had apparently been hit randomly.

A family of five were also killed in a strike on the village of Saath.

In a statement, Hizbullah said it had attacked an Israeli army armoured unit that crossed into Lebanon this morning, destroying two tanks and leaving their crews dead or wounded.

The statement said the fighting began when the unit attempted to advance on the Rub Thalatheen hill at Adaisseh, a border village in the central section of the frontier. The Israeli army denied the allegation.

Israeli troops are operating in their thousands along the Israel-Lebanon border, and additional soldiers crossed into Lebanon yesterday.

They entered through four different points along the border and advanced at least four miles inside Lebanon.

Israeli officials said their soldiers were to go as far as the Litani river, around 18 miles from the border, and hold the ground until an international peacekeeping force came ashore.

They said they wanted to keep Hizbullah away from the border so their patrols and civilians along the frontier were not in danger of attack.

18 July 2006. On Monday in the evening Israeli servicemen arrived at the conclusion that the "falling aircraft", which noon showed on the television channel "Al-Jazirah", was in reality the rocket "zil'zal'" ("earthquake" in Arabic), of the capable of flying so far to the center of Israel. This is the rocket of Iranian production with a radius of action of 120-160 km.

The representatives of Tsahal reported that VVS on Monday delivered impact on launcher, as a result of which occurred the launching of rocket, which took off into air, but soon it exploded and fell.
Servicemen emphasize that the launcher was located in Beirut - and from this distance rocket could not fly so far to Tel Aviv.

According to the communication of the press- service of Tsahal, VVS was possible to destroy about 10 launchers for the launching of the rockets of long range. In some of them they were the ready to the launching of rocket. Installation with the rocket "zil'zal'" was hidden in the territory of Beirut, but the Israeli of aircraft notched it after the launching of another rocket on the territory of Israel was produced of this place.
p.s.
And let still someone after this will say that Israel bombs the innocent civilians of Lebanon.
But you think how many Israelis pogliblo- from this fool, whom neglect- from the territory of "peaceful Beirut"?

AS many as 20,000 Israeli troops were pouring into Lebanon last night after Israel ordered an advance of up to 30km in the most significant escalation yet of its offensive against Hezbollah.

The push to the Litani River, 80km south of Beirut, began last night with troops backed by helicopters, fighter-bombers and artillery clashing fiercely with Hezbollah militants at four points along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israeli defence chiefs said they would need up to two weeks to complete the campaign, and were racing to achieve their goals before the UN and international pressure demanded a ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

US President George W. Bush reiterated his staunch opposition to an immediate ceasefire yesterday, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a ceasefire was unlikely within "the coming days".

"This is a unique opportunity to change the rules in Lebanon," Mr Olmert said.

"We will no longer consent to Hezbollah returning to these positions and continuing to threaten to abduct soldiers and fire on northern communities."

The new Israeli attacks came before the end of a promised 48-hour halt to its airstrikes, which had prompted an exodus of tens of thousands of civilians who had been too afraid to leave southern villages.

Robert Fisk: Entire Lebanese family killed in Israeli attack on hospital Published: 03 August 2006
Source: The Independent

An attack on a hospital, the killing of an entire Lebanese family, the seizure of five men in Baalbek and a new civilian death toll - 468 men, women and children - marked the 22nd day of Israel's latest war on Lebanon.

The Israelis claimed that helicopter-borne soldiers had seized senior Hizbollah leaders although one of them turned out to be a local Baalbek grocer. In a village near the city, Israeli air strikes killed the local mayor's son and brother and five children in their family.

The battle for Lebanon was fast moving out of control last night. Lebanese troops abandoned many of their checkpoints and European diplomats were warning their colleagues that militiamen were taking over the positions. Up to 8,000 Israeli troops were reported to have crossed the border by last night in what was publicised as a military advance towards the Litani river. But far more soldiers would be needed to secure so large an area of southern Lebanon.

The Israelis sent paratroopers to attack an Iranian-financed hospital in Baalbek in the hope of capturing wounded Hizbollah fighters but, after an hour's battle, got their hands on only five men whom the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, later called "tasty fish". The operation suggests what Hizbollah has all along said was the purpose of the Israeli campaign: to swap prisoners and to exchange Hizbollah fighters for the two Israeli soldiers who were captured on the border on 12 July.

Hizbollah continued to fire dozens of missiles over the border into Israel, killing one Israeli and wounding 21, with Israeli artillery firing shells back into Lebanon at the rate of one every two minutes. For the first time, a Hizbollah rocket struck the West Bank as well as the Israeli town of Beit Shean, the longest-range missile to have been fired so far. Yet still the West seems unable to produce an end to a war which is clearly overwhelming both Hizbollah and the Israelis.

Hizbollah obviously has far more missiles than the Israelis believed - there is not a town in northern Israel which is safe from their fire - and the Israeli army apparently has no plan to defeat Hizbollah other than the old and hopeless policy of occupying southern Lebanon. If Hizbollah had planned this campaign months in advance - and if the Israelis did the same - then neither side left room for diplomacy.

The French have wisely said they will lead a peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon only after a ceasefire. And to be sure, they will not let this become a Nato-led army. France already has a company of 100 soldiers in the UN force in southern Lebanon, whose commander is himself French, but Paris, after watching the chaos in Iraq, has no illusions about Western armies in the Middle East.

Outside the shattered Dar al-Hikma hospital in Baalbek yesterday stood two burnt cars and a minivan, riddled with bullet-holes. Hizbollah, it seems, fought the Israelis there for more than an hour. The hospital, which includes several British-manufactured heart machines, was empty when the Israeli raid began and was partly destroyed in the fighting.

The Lebanese army, which has tried to stay out of the conflict - heaven knows what its 75,000 soldiers are supposed to do - was attacked again by the Israelis yesterday when they fired a missile into a car which they claimed was carrying a Hizbollah leader. They were wrong. The soldier inside died instantly, joining the 11 other Lebanese troops proclaimed as "martyrs" by the government from a logistics unit killed in an Israeli air raid two weeks ago.

The obscene score-card for death in this latest war now stands as follows: 508 Lebanese civilians, 46 Hizbollah guerrillas, 26 Lebanese soldiers, 36 Israeli soldiers and 19 Israeli civilians.

In other words, Hizbollah is killing more Israeli soldiers than civilians and the Israelis are killing far more Lebanese civilians than they are guerrillas. The Lebanese Red Cross has found 40 more civilian dead in the south of the country in the past two days, many of them with wounds suggesting they might have survived had medical help been available.

An attack on a hospital, the killing of an entire Lebanese family, the seizure of five men in Baalbek and a new civilian death toll - 468 men, women and children - marked the 22nd day of Israel's latest war on Lebanon.

The Israelis claimed that helicopter-borne soldiers had seized senior Hizbollah leaders although one of them turned out to be a local Baalbek grocer. In a village near the city, Israeli air strikes killed the local mayor's son and brother and five children in their family.

The battle for Lebanon was fast moving out of control last night. Lebanese troops abandoned many of their checkpoints and European diplomats were warning their colleagues that militiamen were taking over the positions. Up to 8,000 Israeli troops were reported to have crossed the border by last night in what was publicised as a military advance towards the Litani river. But far more soldiers would be needed to secure so large an area of southern Lebanon.

The Israelis sent paratroopers to attack an Iranian-financed hospital in Baalbek in the hope of capturing wounded Hizbollah fighters but, after an hour's battle, got their hands on only five men whom the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, later called "tasty fish". The operation suggests what Hizbollah has all along said was the purpose of the Israeli campaign: to swap prisoners and to exchange Hizbollah fighters for the two Israeli soldiers who were captured on the border on 12 July.

Hizbollah continued to fire dozens of missiles over the border into Israel, killing one Israeli and wounding 21, with Israeli artillery firing shells back into Lebanon at the rate of one every two minutes. For the first time, a Hizbollah rocket struck the West Bank as well as the Israeli town of Beit Shean, the longest-range missile to have been fired so far. Yet still the West seems unable to produce an end to a war which is clearly overwhelming both Hizbollah and the Israelis.

Hizbollah obviously has far more missiles than the Israelis believed - there is not a town in northern Israel which is safe from their fire - and the Israeli army apparently has no plan to defeat Hizbollah other than the old and hopeless policy of occupying southern Lebanon. If Hizbollah had planned this campaign months in advance - and if the Israelis did the same - then neither side left room for diplomacy.
The French have wisely said they will lead a peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon only after a ceasefire. And to be sure, they will not let this become a Nato-led army. France already has a company of 100 soldiers in the UN force in southern Lebanon, whose commander is himself French, but Paris, after watching the chaos in Iraq, has no illusions about Western armies in the Middle East.

Outside the shattered Dar al-Hikma hospital in Baalbek yesterday stood two burnt cars and a minivan, riddled with bullet-holes. Hizbollah, it seems, fought the Israelis there for more than an hour. The hospital, which includes several British-manufactured heart machines, was empty when the Israeli raid began and was partly destroyed in the fighting.

The Lebanese army, which has tried to stay out of the conflict - heaven knows what its 75,000 soldiers are supposed to do - was attacked again by the Israelis yesterday when they fired a missile into a car which they claimed was carrying a Hizbollah leader. They were wrong. The soldier inside died instantly, joining the 11 other Lebanese troops proclaimed as "martyrs" by the government from a logistics unit killed in an Israeli air raid two weeks ago.

The obscene score-card for death in this latest war now stands as follows: 508 Lebanese civilians, 46 Hizbollah guerrillas, 26 Lebanese soldiers, 36 Israeli soldiers and 19 Israeli civilians.

In other words, Hizbollah is killing more Israeli soldiers than civilians and the Israelis are killing far more Lebanese civilians than they are guerrillas. The Lebanese Red Cross has found 40 more civilian dead in the south of the country in the past two days, many of them with wounds suggesting they might have survived had medical help been available.

In Gaza, cheers for Hezbollah By Greg Myre The New York Times
Published: August 2, 2006

GAZA As Palestinian deaths mount in the fight with Israel in the Gaza Strip, many here say they take a measure of satisfaction in the pain Hezbollah has inflicted on Israel in Lebanon.

At the PLO Flag Shop, a local store that specializes in Palestinian souvenirs, the best-selling items for the past couple of weeks have been posters, T-shirts, buttons and coffee mugs featuring Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

"If anyone fights Israel, we will support them," said one customer, Ahmed Youssef, an engineering student at the Islamic University, who bought a Nasrallah poster and a Hezbollah flag. "I'm here because I sympathize with Hezbollah. It's the least we can do."

Palestinians say the obsession with the Lebanese conflict is simple: Hezbollah has delivered deadly blows to Israel that Palestinians have not been able to inflict on Israel's southern front.

"I am much more interested in the Lebanese war, because in Gaza the news is all about counting how many Palestinians are killed," said Sami al- Helo, 24, who was watching Lebanese events unfold at the Sultana coffee shop, where the television was broadcasting Hezbollah's station, Al Manar.

"But in Lebanon, we can see the heavy price Israel is paying," Helo added. "We know Hezbollah is not as strong as the Israelis, who are destroying more and more, but at least Hezbollah is causing damage, killing Israeli soldiers and confronting their tanks."

The most intense fighting in Gaza has been in the north, just a few miles from Gaza City, and sometimes on its outskirts. Nevertheless, the thunder of outgoing Palestinian rockets and incoming Israeli artillery in the distance can become background noise accompanying the Arab satellite channels that bring the Israel-Hezbollah conflict into living rooms across the city.

Even in Palestinian newspapers and radio broadcasts, the bloodletting in Lebanon now gets equal billing, and sometimes takes precedence over the bloodshed at home.

In Gaza, where the fighting has dragged on for years, the Palestinians are once again taking a drubbing. About 150 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed in the fighting that erupted after militants tunneled into Israel on June 25, killing two soldiers and seizing another. On the Israeli side, one soldier has been killed since then, mistakenly by Israeli forces.

But on the Lebanese front, Hezbollah has killed more than 50 Israelis, including more than 30 military personnel. Hezbollah militants have inflicted significant casualties on Israeli ground forces in towns on the Lebanese side of the border and have been unleashing 100 or more rockets a day despite the intense Israeli aerial campaign to stop them.

Hezbollah even hit an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, killing four Israeli sailors.

Hezbollah's achievements have turned Nasrallah into the face of anti- Israeli resistance, as Ahmad Abu Dayyah, who manages the PLO Flag Shop, has seen in his sales.

Even the poor are putting down their money for Nasrallah's poster. "They feel very proud of this guy," he said.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, an estimated 2,000 Palestinians marched through a main street Tuesday carrying photos of Nasrallah and denouncing moderate Arab leaders like President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Meanwhile, the Gaza fighting continued, with no resolution in sight.

On Tuesday, Palestinians fired six more rockets into southern Israel, damaging a home, but causing no injuries.

Israel responded with fire against what it said was a rocket-launching cell. But Palestinians said a teenage boy and a young woman were killed near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, and four civilians were wounded.

Israel is launching periodic thrusts with armored forces into northern Gaza in an attempt to halt, or at least limit, Palestinian rocket fire. Israeli forces remain parked at the disused Palestinian airport in southern Gaza, not far from where the soldier was captured.

In a two-day offensive last week, Israeli forces killed 30 Palestinians, mostly militants, on the edge of Gaza City, but the fighting was overshadowed by events in Lebanon.

"Israel has actually been escalating their attacks in Gaza since the fighting started in Lebanon; apparently they think no one will notice," said Nabil Shaath, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and a former foreign minister. "The solution here is simple: You need a reciprocal cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners."

Israel says it will not negotiate with the Hamas-led Palestinian government on either issue.

"The Palestinians can't expect to have business as usual as long as one of our servicemen is held and there are daily rocket attacks," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Some Palestinians have suggested linking the Palestinian and Hezbollah conflicts with Israel, arguing this would give the Arabs greater leverage in negotiating a package deal.

However, the Palestinian Authority says its disputes with Israel differ from those of Hezbollah, and should be kept separate.

"I don't think there should be linkage with Lebanon," said Ghazi Hamad, the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority. "We have our own demands: releasing our prisoners, opening the crossing points, ending the occupation."

Meanwhile, the four-month-old Hamas government is still struggling.

Hamas and other factions, including President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, have agreed in principle to form a national unity government. But the plan is on hold because of the current crisis.

With Western aid to the Palestinian Authority cut off, the government remains unable to pay full monthly salaries to the more than 165,000 government workers.

However, the Palestinians may have found a bit of a loophole, according to Ismail Mafouz, deputy finance minister.

Banks have been unwilling to handle transfers for the Palestinian Authority because the United States has warned that they could face sanctions for dealing with Hamas.

Yet the Arab League in Cairo recently sent $42 million via the Bank of Palestine into accounts controlled by Abbas, who has not been ostracized by the United States and Israel. The president's office then paid part of the monthly salaries, without the money passing through the coffers of the Finance Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

GAZA As Palestinian deaths mount in the fight with Israel in the Gaza Strip, many here say they take a measure of satisfaction in the pain Hezbollah has inflicted on Israel in Lebanon.

At the PLO Flag Shop, a local store that specializes in Palestinian souvenirs, the best-selling items for the past couple of weeks have been posters, T-shirts, buttons and coffee mugs featuring Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

"If anyone fights Israel, we will support them," said one customer, Ahmed Youssef, an engineering student at the Islamic University, who bought a Nasrallah poster and a Hezbollah flag. "I'm here because I sympathize with Hezbollah. It's the least we can do."

Palestinians say the obsession with the Lebanese conflict is simple: Hezbollah has delivered deadly blows to Israel that Palestinians have not been able to inflict on Israel's southern front.

"I am much more interested in the Lebanese war, because in Gaza the news is all about counting how many Palestinians are killed," said Sami al- Helo, 24, who was watching Lebanese events unfold at the Sultana coffee shop, where the television was broadcasting Hezbollah's station, Al Manar.

"But in Lebanon, we can see the heavy price Israel is paying," Helo added. "We know Hezbollah is not as strong as the Israelis, who are destroying more and more, but at least Hezbollah is causing damage, killing Israeli soldiers and confronting their tanks."

The most intense fighting in Gaza has been in the north, just a few miles from Gaza City, and sometimes on its outskirts. Nevertheless, the thunder of outgoing Palestinian rockets and incoming Israeli artillery in the distance can become background noise accompanying the Arab satellite channels that bring the Israel-Hezbollah conflict into living rooms across the city.

Even in Palestinian newspapers and radio broadcasts, the bloodletting in Lebanon now gets equal billing, and sometimes takes precedence over the bloodshed at home.

In Gaza, where the fighting has dragged on for years, the Palestinians are once again taking a drubbing. About 150 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed in the fighting that erupted after militants tunneled into Israel on June 25, killing two soldiers and seizing another. On the Israeli side, one soldier has been killed since then, mistakenly by Israeli forces.

But on the Lebanese front, Hezbollah has killed more than 50 Israelis, including more than 30 military personnel. Hezbollah militants have inflicted significant casualties on Israeli ground forces in towns on the Lebanese side of the border and have been unleashing 100 or more rockets a day despite the intense Israeli aerial campaign to stop them.

Hezbollah even hit an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, killing four Israeli sailors.

Hezbollah's achievements have turned Nasrallah into the face of anti- Israeli resistance, as Ahmad Abu Dayyah, who manages the PLO Flag Shop, has seen in his sales.

Even the poor are putting down their money for Nasrallah's poster. "They feel very proud of this guy," he said.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, an estimated 2,000 Palestinians marched through a main street Tuesday carrying photos of Nasrallah and denouncing moderate Arab leaders like President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Meanwhile, the Gaza fighting continued, with no resolution in sight.

On Tuesday, Palestinians fired six more rockets into southern Israel, damaging a home, but causing no injuries.

Israel responded with fire against what it said was a rocket-launching cell. But Palestinians said a teenage boy and a young woman were killed near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, and four civilians were wounded.

Israel is launching periodic thrusts with armored forces into northern Gaza in an attempt to halt, or at least limit, Palestinian rocket fire. Israeli forces remain parked at the disused Palestinian airport in southern Gaza, not far from where the soldier was captured.

In a two-day offensive last week, Israeli forces killed 30 Palestinians, mostly militants, on the edge of Gaza City, but the fighting was overshadowed by events in Lebanon.

"Israel has actually been escalating their attacks in Gaza since the fighting started in Lebanon; apparently they think no one will notice," said Nabil Shaath, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and a former foreign minister. "The solution here is simple: You need a reciprocal cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners."

Israel says it will not negotiate with the Hamas-led Palestinian government on either issue.

"The Palestinians can't expect to have business as usual as long as one of our servicemen is held and there are daily rocket attacks," said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Some Palestinians have suggested linking the Palestinian and Hezbollah conflicts with Israel, arguing this would give the Arabs greater leverage in negotiating a package deal.

However, the Palestinian Authority says its disputes with Israel differ from those of Hezbollah, and should be kept separate.

"I don't think there should be linkage with Lebanon," said Ghazi Hamad, the spokesman for the Palestinian Authority. "We have our own demands: releasing our prisoners, opening the crossing points, ending the occupation."

Meanwhile, the four-month-old Hamas government is still struggling.

Hamas and other factions, including President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, have agreed in principle to form a national unity government. But the plan is on hold because of the current crisis.

With Western aid to the Palestinian Authority cut off, the government remains unable to pay full monthly salaries to the more than 165,000 government workers.

However, the Palestinians may have found a bit of a loophole, according to Ismail Mafouz, deputy finance minister.

Banks have been unwilling to handle transfers for the Palestinian Authority because the United States has warned that they could face sanctions for dealing with Hamas.

Yet the Arab League in Cairo recently sent $42 million via the Bank of Palestine into accounts controlled by Abbas, who has not been ostracized by the United States and Israel. The president's office then paid part of the monthly salaries, without the money passing through the coffers of the Finance Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

Attacks on the Bush administration's Middle East policies in the Arab press have culminated in personal insults and racial slurs aimed at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with one cartoon depicting her pregnant with an armed monkey.
"Rice speaks about the birth of a new Middle East," the cartoon's caption reads, referring to the secretary's recent remarks about the "birth pangs" of the region.
The image, as well as words such as "raven" and "black spinster" to describe Miss Rice, appeared in Palestinian newspapers controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
"This is truly ugly," said a former senior aide to Madeleine K. Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration. "It's unfortunate and not reflective of the Palestinian people, and they should be upset about it. But you have to ignore these things, you can't respond to them."
The State Department did just that, saying only that those are "ugly attacks," but that "criticism comes with public service."
"We encourage development of a free press, but along with those freedoms come certain responsibilities," said department spokesman Sean McCormack. "Secretary Rice is focused on doing her job. She knows that the United States is doing the right thing."
Mr. McCormack also said that Miss Rice "has a great working relationship with President Abbas" and "a great deal of personal respect for him."
The Palestinian Authority official daily, Al Hayat Al Jadida, published articles last week that called Miss Rice "the Black Lady" and "raven," according to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli group.
"Beware of this black spinster," the newspaper said. "We don't want to say 'the black widow' out of respect for her femininity and intelligence."
The cartoon of a pregnant Miss Rice appeared in Al Quds, another Fatah-controlled newspaper regarded as moderate by Washington. Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell gave the publication two interviews during his tenure, in 2002 and 2003.
The press and even government officials in the Middle East have insulted senior U.S. officials before, but nothing comes close to the cartoon, current and former officials said.
Mrs. Albright chose to respond to insults humorously. Soon after then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein called her a "snake," while she was ambassador to the United Nations in the mid-1990s, she showed up at a Security Council meeting on Iraq wearing a snake pin.
Last year, the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper caused an uproar in the Muslim world, resulting in violence against Danish embassies and other interests.
Denmark's government refused to demand an apology from the paper, Jyllands-Posten, citing freedom of the press. The paper eventually apologized.
The recent publications about Miss Rice, which were first reported by the Web site World Net Daily, also included coverage of protests in the West Bank city of Ramallah while she was meeting with Mr. Abbas last week.
Some of the posters carried by protesters and shown in Al Hayat Al Jadida read, "Murderer Rice, go to Hell" and "Get out." One poster had Miss Rice drinking the blood of dead babies and saying, "I need more blood."